A cis-regulatory signature for chordate anterior neuroectodermal genes.

ABSTRACT: One of the striking findings of comparative developmental genetics was that expression patterns of core transcription factors are extraordinarily conserved in bilaterians. However, it remains unclear whether cis-regulatory elements of their target genes also exhibit common signatures associated with conserved embryonic fields. To address this question, we focused on genes that are active in the anterior neuroectoderm and non-neural ectoderm of the ascidian Ciona intestinalis. Following the dissection of a prototypic anterior placodal enhancer, we searched all genomic conserved non-coding elements for duplicated motifs around genes showing anterior neuroectodermal expression. Strikingly, we identified an over-represented pentamer motif corresponding to the binding site of the homeodomain pr

SUBMITTER: Haeussler M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2855326 | biostudies-literature | 2010 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature